Peter Cross
Interview with Peter Bibliography
Some answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Peter:
Does Peter have a web site of his own?
Yes - Peter has recently launched his own site which can be found here.
Is any of Peter's artwork for Ant's albums such as The Geese & The Ghost and Wise After The Event available as posters or prints?
Not at the present time. Some promotional posters for The Geese & The Ghost, Wise After The Event and Sides were printed up at the time the albums were originally released - needless to say, these are now rare and collectable items. Copies of them do sometimes come up for sale on sites like Ebay. There was also a limited edition print run of the full artwork used as the cover for New England available around the time the album was originally released but the print run is now sold out.
Peter Cross was born in Guildford in 1951. He first worked as a technical illustrator for Hawker Siddeley before establishing himself as a freelance artist in the mid 1970s.
Peter's association with Ant started with a stunning cover design for The Geese And The Ghost and this has continued with a number of innovative designs for albums such as Wise After The Event, Sides, Back to the Pavilion and New England.
In 1982 Peter's first children's book Trouble For Trumpets was published, which set a new standard for children's illustrated stories. Combining elements of Peter's rich and witty imagination, the book's artwork is full of hidden clues, jokes and puzzles. A follow up story, Trumpets in Grumpetland was published in 1984 and this again received critical acclaim. Peter also illustrated the Dinosaur Days books as well as the charming Dudley Dormouse series.
In 1988 he wrote and illustrated 1588 And All This, his first book for adults which allowed him to extend his visual humour and cross-reference to impressive effect as did 1990's Boys Own Battle of Britain. In the early 1990s Peter created a number of stunning designs for the wine merchants Wine Rack with the result that their catalogues soon became collector's items.
Peter continued to enjoy well-deserved success with his Harbottle Hamster greetings card series for Gordon Fraser between 1995 and 2000 which delighted both adults and children.
Peter has now started his own greetings card range published by The Great British Card Company. He is also working towards a major retrospective exhibition at Chris Beetles Gallery to be held in Spring 2009 to celebrate the 25 years of his fruitful association with the gallery.
Peter is represented by the Chris Beetles Gallery in London, who also have a number of Peter's original works available for sale.
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